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Episode-1711- Listener Feedback – Political Speculation Edition

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Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Today’s show is different for a feedback show.  We don’t go email to email like normal.  I am taking a larger look at the coming election.

I receive dozens a questions on my predictions per day so I thought I would just take a look at where we are now.  Where we are headed as far as the coming elections and the implications of that.

Today I tell you why President Bernie Sanders could happen, why frankly it is more likely that most would think.  While it still isn’t my primary pick, I explain why it could happen and what it means if it does.

We examine Trump’s support for single payer and why he may be the very thing that ruins my prediction that a republican would win in 2016, a prediction made 8 years ago, yes I could be wrong, very wrong.

In the end it doesn’t really matter I see the same agenda coming from both side of the isle right now on 9 out of 10 issues.  I see a coming recession, I see the old no crisis going to waste leverage about to be played out.

I also ask the question what can we really do to take our society back from tyrants?  We end on a note I never intended to but it seems like the only answer I can really find.

Resources for today’s show…

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

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Comments

Episode-1711- Listener Feedback – Political Speculation Edition — 77 Comments

  1. Glad to hear Jack say he supports a rotating primary schedule. I would like to see each of the four regions vote on the second Tuesday each month starting in February. Divvy it up by time zone or by region.

    I still vote in all the races, I can say that if I wind up having to choose between Trump and any of the three Democrats, I will write in Jack’s name if there isn’t a decent third party candidate.

    It galls me that the ruling class is above the law. I saw guys get busted for telling a girlfriend when the ship was getting under way (ship’s movement classified Secret), Hillary has Secret and Top Secret info on a personal server, and likely won’t even get a slap on the wrist.

    • I don’t support it, I find the entire thing a sham, but if you are going to have a primary system it would be a lot closer to legit this way.

  2. Jack, if you don’t think Trump will be the candidate, but you think republicans will take office, then you must conclude Cruz will be the next president…like I called it more than 1 years ago. I hope you are wrong about Bernie. And I think Cruz would make a better president than any of the rest.

    • Called Cruz the day I realized Scott Walk was a non starter. But now I have my doubts. Cruz wins, Trump runs third party, Cruz looses. Trump wins, the GOP runs someone third party, Trump looses.

      Not saying that will happen but it damn well might.

        • Jack,
          Didn’t mean to upset you. There is certainly lots of uncertainty regarding the current POTUS’ right to hold that office. My point, was that Cruz has no such cloud over him.

        • Tina, that’s ridiculous. My guess is you’re watching a bit to much of FOX news… I think there’s less uncertainty about Obama’s right to hold office than there was about Bush II’s right to his first term. The only cloud over Obama is the one you’re imagining over him.

        • Yea the entire birther thing is a non starter, if you are born to a US Citizen you are a US Citizen. I do think the US Supreme Court should rule on this though and put an end to this nonsense. The intent of the founders was clear. To prevent wealthy foreign interests from coming here and buying into office.

          One should consider though at that time and ALL THE WAY UP TILL WWI, there was nothing akin to a pass port. Anyone could go anywhere (except some isolationist nations like Japan) and just live. Mot people do not have this context in even quite recent history.

          So at the time of the founders some rich guy in Germany so to say could just send his kid to the US and he could just buy a place and set up and rock on. All his kids would be natural citizens but he was a citizen immediately. One MUST consider this when considering why the founders put this restriction (one of only three) on the presidency.

        • Sorry, Flake, but your guess is wrong. I’m not a Fox Sheeple anymore than I’m anyone else’s sheeple. I think for myself. I may not come to the same conclusions as you do but that doesn’t make me an idiot nor does it make me *wrong*…or right for that matter. It is my way of seeing the situation based on the information *I* have available to me…and a good deal of distrust for the propaganda that counts as facts about our politicians and government in general these days.

        • You make a good point, Jack. His mother was a US Citizen. But, if you look at this website: http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents it states that since Obama was born prior to 1986, BOTH of his parents would have to be US Citizens. His father was not, to my knowledge. There might be something in the “automatic citizenship after birth” section that would qualify him but I don’t know enough of his history to sort that part out.

        • Read the whole this, if one parent is a citizen and the child born before 86, all that has to be true is.

          The mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of at least one year.

          If the father is the citizen the only key is

          The U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least 5 years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least 2 of which were after his or her 14th birthday.

          This birther stuff is nonsense that leads no where, period.

        • Read that again, Jack. If the child is born AFTER 1986. But, you are right about one thing…it gets us nowhere. Legit or not, he has served for 8 years and do a good job of forwarding the progression to Socialism quite well. And, no one in power regardless of label gives a poop because they WANTED it to happen.

        • No you read it again, I got that lower down for people BEFORE that date. Again this is just nonsense please stop believing in the tooth fairy.

        • One parent is a U.S. citizen at the time of birth and the birthdate is on or after November 14, 1986

          Direct quote. See that word AFTER??? Yeah, that one. Obama was not born AFTER 1986.

        • For the love of God and all that is holly Tina learn to scroll, fucking fuck, “The genetic or non-genetic gestational legal mother is a U.S. citizen at the time of birth, and the birth date is after December 23, 1952”

          Done over the end OUT from your own source. Ted Cruz’s mom is a natural born US citizen and qualifies for all criteria for anyone born after 1952, if simply his mother, “The mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of at least one year.”

          Cruz was born in 1970. Done over out by your own source. But when we have perception bias we just don’t read everything do we we read only what confirms what we wish to believe.

          Seriously go to your own link, scroll down look at the left side of the table FIRST TABLE SECOND CELL UP FROM ITS BOTTOM right side again, “The genetic or non-genetic gestational legal mother is a U.S. citizen at the time of birth, and the birth date is after December 23, 1952”

          See it? Seriously if you don’t go there, hit control C enter 1952 to find it. Wow!

        • First, you need to improve your vocabulary so that you don’t have to resort to the F word whenever you get frustrated.

          Second, if you notice, I admitted right up that “There might be something in the “automatic citizenship after birth” section that would qualify him but I don’t know enough of his history to sort that part out.”

          I also stated that at this point it matters zero because he has served his time and his purpose. But, really, work on the vocabulary…it will make you sound much more intelligent.

        • You know what FUCK that, okay. It isn’t lack of vocabulary, it is the right word when someone continues to speak nonsense. Are we just going to ignore the facts about your own link with some nonsense like “oh there might be sometime to it” after you claimed that it proved your point, when it 100% actually disproves your point?

          Did you find the date 1952? Did ya?

          If you want Cruz’s history go to Wikipedia, the entire timeline is there. #getafuckingclue

          Seriously don’t lecture me on vocabulary. LOL

  3. Jack,

    I agree with you about the best way to have an impact is to home school children. You asked for resources, and here is one. Gary North has been working to develop a curriculum for home schooling, called the Ron Paul Curriculum (yes, that Ron Paul) http://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/. He believes, as you do, that the best thing we can do for our children, if possible, is to home school them. Perhaps this site may help some to make the leap to home schooling their children.

  4. Control is the issue in education. The choice seems to be between self control and external control. As parents we can make a difference in how our children are taught. Some children will excel regardless of the teaching venue. Most will not. Those who do well in self directed teaching seem to perform better than those who graduate from “traditional” schools. Still uncertain about which candidate to vote for. Not Hillary Clinton is the only certainty for me.

    • Do you really think it will matter who you vote for in any meaningful way outside of your personal emotional catharsis?

  5. Is there anything to do with this knowledge? Like steps we should take?
    I listened to about half of the podcast so far and it is interesting.

    Thanks

  6. Thanks Jack.

    At one point in my life, I would have loved to listened to a thoughtful, well rounded podcast about the presidency during the election year. After the first 40 minutes, I had to shut it off. I spent the time finishing up my 5 year goals and my 90 day sprint.

    Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate the podcast today. You helped show me how far I have come. I now place politicians on the same level as soap operas – dead horse story plots. I don’t have time for it.

    Thanks again!

      • Went back and listened to the rest. We are homeschooling all 6 of our kids after my wife and I were school teachers. Not easy, but we have a saying around our house, “All the easy stuff has already been done.” Like you said, the easy path is the path of the politicians.

        There are a lot great home school helps but marketing is poor. The parents have to have enough kicks in the gut from the system to want to walk away from the system.

  7. Hi
    I see that you think that Bernie Sanders might win.
    You should look up the definition of socialist and make sure that you and the rest of the people are find with it. Last time I checked socialism and patriotism are an oxymoron. I think a conservative will win the up coming election. You could do a whole show on the subject. Also you should check out the Federalist papers worth a conversation or more its only your freedom we are talking about.
    Sincerely
    Bill T

    • What the hell are you talking about? Predicting what might happen is not an endorsement of it. Seriously what the hell is your deal?

    • While he may be the most extreme socialist the US has voted into office yet, he certainly won’t be the first.

    • You need to go back and take another listen to the podcast Bill. Jack was in no way endorsing Sanders, or anyone else. He was giving a very realistic assessment of what could happen in this election.

      After seeing Obama elected twice, is it that much of a stretch of the imagination to think that the American voters will choose a Socialist for president?

      While I would love to believe there is a revival of common sense in America, I believe we are seeing a further increase in the knee jerk, uninformed voter base.

      That Donald Trump can be the leading GOP candidate, with his history of being anything but conservative is further proof that people vote with their emotions, and not with their heads. He is nothing but the GOP version of Obama, following the same campaign script, just different buzz words.

      • What a point you made, here is the short version.

        Prove to me that Bernie can win in two words.

        Barrack Obama.

        Okay well, this time is different, I will give you two more words.

        Donald Trump.

        Trump proves our nation has lost its mind. It proves there are NO GOOD CHOICES! None. And @Bill Tinker said he “thinks a conservative will win”, really who? Who is running that is a conservative with a chance to win. The closest is Paul and he is so out of it there is no reason to consider him. The front runner is Cruz.

        Cruz, who was pretty much a nobody, then just happens to marry some chick who is part of GWB’s admin in 2001 and his career takes off like a rocket. This chick Heidi is a VP of Goldman fing Sachs! She was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, which Ted called a “den of vipers” but then dismissed the fact that his wife was a member as a personal attack. Cruz is a globalist in disguise and not a good one at that but the sheep are easily confused.

        It is all a scam and the fact that people think the Political WWF is real is precisely why it is so effective.

  8. A network of Farming Survival Clubs / schools 501 (c)(3). I am trying to get others to see the wisdom in this.
    Skynet Farms a 501 (c) (3) organization, where your life is our business!
    Mission:
    1 Support the continuity of the American government.
    2 Fund the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
    3 Extract, aid and or sustain disaster victims into a more livable condition.
    4 Provide fun training in the areas of a make believe chronic systemic grid down scenario, food forest / permaculture, converting trash into fuel or electricity and many more fun family sustaining abilities.
    5 Provide the supra free of charge.
    6 Create a network of Farms who members support, help one and other along a self-reliance line. Being only 400 miles apart.
    7 Have an open enrollment, for Skynet Farms’ new membership in our network.

  9. There was a standard applied in court to determine if a person’s will is a right or a preference.. If ANYTHING will change your mind about an issue then it is a preference and not a right. You have to be willing to die for it to be a right! I don’t think Americans are at a place where they are willing to die for anything. They are generally willing to sell their soul and kill (via the power of the state) any neighbor for PERCEIVED health security.
    I personally am taking my life decisions and their responsibility for my self. According to State reps office not using oboma care can not result in Levied homes or jail. So, screw off! I choose to trust in a greater power and live or die by that choice. In 4 generations we, like most all peoples, have never required anything that we couldn’t handle. My daughter needed a heart vakve. The cost, $300,000 for the hospital, $9500 for the surgeon and and his staff, $2000 in labs. The cash settlement price with the hospital $30,000, $1750 labs, $5790 surgan staff. I have a PhD friend and I know they made a profit, and a good one; it was even fair. For me I had to drive a truck for 10 years instead of 5. If everyone did this the mega wealthy hospital owners would have to settle for fair profit.

    If we-the-people made our own decisions and did not ask permission we would enguage in voluntary association and build our own non-profit hispitals, wave insurance and lawsuit protections, which would not satisify lawers or government , but that is where civil disobedience would take the cake. We cannot actually expect them do anything but create problems. If we don’t anull bad law we will never ever have a life that produces anything for our selves, we will just be milked and blead to fuel the mega wealth. Freedom isconscience and the system and it people are far more likely to take my life by law than health. Everyone dies, but few live. I choose to live!!

    It’s going to be a rough transition for people who choose free choice while the system goes down kicking, screaming, and dragging anyone it can touch down with it so that it can to hold its self up a little longer only to birth into the new system of slavery. At some point it will be illegal to follow your conscience, hell it already is really. The worst thing is, even here the first thing people ask is; “is it legal?” How about asking, is it the right thing to do? What future do I want for my grand children and their grand children? Of course if you are in bebt and working as a wags slave you really have nothing to say, you have to get to bed so you can function at work when the alarm goes off; do what you are told!

    There really is a choice, you CAN walk away from it. Really! Yea, I know fear response, fear response, knee jerk reaction.. Now, really what do you need? What actually matters in life? When you are dying will you be glad you spent more time at work and having an nicer car or bigger stick box veneer house just like everyone else has?

  10. Jack, fyi the excise tax on public sector union health insurance you mentioned in today’s show was moved out from 2018 to 2020. Our Republican and Democrat politicians did this in the omnibus spending bill that passed last month.

    • Becky, the excise tax is an interesting way of putting it. The Texas constitution forbids any excise tax on mechanical trades… To bad government does not obey law!

  11. How do you make it easy You don’t! You also do not change the system alone or in small numbers. Even community like Amish just wind up being made fun of and attacked for perceptions of not contributing to society.

    Change your self. Be the change you want to see and IF it stands as truth and beauty when the rest of a system we created and allow fails, and it is designed to, only then there will be change. Society will burn the last tree standing to get power for one more eppiside of reality TV. Nothing will change the insane path apart from wide spread failure, and social engineering is a very fine and studied art. I don’t know if it’s possible for people to become undomesticated. I have been unschooling for years, and still I find more trash in my thought processes all the time.

    I have friends who were home schooled and they are sold out to debt and the system just the same as public school students.. They are much more learned than me, but not smart enough to resist the pull of the modern life. Honestly, I even hit points where I just don’t see how, or don’t want to do without the systems luxuries.. It runs SO deep! Given time though, the answers always come. Then I just have to be brave enough to act.

    Now a bright spot; I hope. I lived in a tent, worked and saved every penny for a year and a half, bought 2 acres, and camped another year to build a basic shelter which has grown to a family dwelling. I learned each aspect of house building and got paid to do so in construction. We learned to process raw foods in bulk into everything including Twinkies! To do so is CHEAP. We spend $250 a month for a family of 4 and eat very well; having steak tonight infact from our own cow served with sun chokes, garden greens and grated dicon radishes & carrots, fig vinegar, and kombucha. Cost for 4 people $6 total factoring in cost of cow, butcher fees, hay, sugar, tea bags. Every year more and more fruit & Nut trees begin to produce and soon we will buy almost nothing. Plenty of cash for the insurrection fund. Extra will be sold to make up any income needed. The amazing thing.. In this low income life style we save money, and have more liquid cash than my friends who have college, house and car debt..

    If you want freedom you have to be willing to sacrifice and take it. Carve out a place in the world. If what you really love is stuff, new cars, and houses without having to save first then just go back to sleep.

    I took a well paying upper middle class job to save for more land and quickly felt sick from the loss of freedom and quit. It’s just not worth it once you have been outside the fence!!! Waiting a couple years longer we raised the money to buy it for cash anyway.

    Find your vision and fight with passion for it, without asking permission!!

    • @Scott, your comments reminded me of:

      To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order;
      to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order;
      to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life;
      and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right. 
      -Confucius

      🙂

      • I will do some follow up today BUT, there is one flaw in what Scott is saying, frankly it doesn’t work for everyone. Note I don’t mean everyone can’t do it, I mean many would not want to even for what he has. Going out to the sticks for some people (like me) and living off the land is idyllic, it is heaven.

        For others even if they didn’t have to do the great stuff Scott did, they don’t want his life.

        To change the balance we need a society where liberty exists for all not just for those that withdraw far enough for the level we are okay with.

        As to knowing some homeschoolers that fell into debt, that is kind of meaningless. It is like saying I dated two red heads and they were nuts so now I only date blondes and brunettes. We call that a statistically irrelevant sample size. And even with that, likely a homeschooled person even on in debt is still better off in life than they would be if they had been in a government school.

        It isn’t that Scott isn’t right about a way to obtain personal freedom, one I am very fond of by the way, just that it is not sufficient and I feel at this point if we do go into expansion even his way is going to be threatened very shortly, in fact it already is. Just think of all the small homesteaders and producers attacked over the last 5 years. And yea people not in the cities or suburbs. The list is a mile long.

        • I agree. It’s not for everyone. There is a ranch near the owner of which is a financial investment type living in new York. He has excessive money so he bought a ranch and hired a couple homestead type families to raise beef and grow food. There are always ways to make it happen when people work together.

          The system is not going away, just transforming. We will always have city life and luxuries and a King. My biggest issue is that they are willing to murder a person over not cutting the grass in their yard. You get fined, you dont pay they fine, they cage you like an animal, you refuse to go in the cage they kill you and say Im just doing my job. Worst part, all your neighbors shake their head in approval. I am personally just not going to obey bad laws which violate my well being. For me the least risky choice is non participation when possible and not being visable. However, this would not be possible if it was not for the masses who pay their dues without question and history shows the masses will always be under rule. If to many people changed law would get very strict and those people removed from society.

          I know its a rub point, some think you must be in the middle, vote and make change. What I see though is doing anything in the system only gives it more power and waste my life’s time. We gripe about pollution for example, but we are not going to give up a single plastic wrapped toy to actually reduce pollution. We are the reason the system exist. It’s a souless cooperation/beast, but it is representative of what is in us. I will make no difference, but in total apathy towards government (the peoples selfish will) I will happily work no more than 3 months a year, travel the world, eat good food and if need be move. How many people have the freedom to take yearly month long trips around the world and wake up when they wish, working when they wish? Yep, I live a terrible simple pathetic life. Who would ever want that, LOL..

  13. Hi Jack,
    I started to respond yesterday but needed some time to process and pray over my response to what you stated. I totally agree with what you stated—I’ve seen it coming like an out of control freight train for awhile now. It is scary. Scared was my first response which is why I needed some time to work through that.

    As much as I would like to think there is a chance to stop the train and get our country back I just don’t see that happening. The momentum to self-destruction is far too strong now. The only thing I feel that *I* can do is try to figure out how to protect me and mine through the crash and beyond. I have a modest job and an even more modest home on .66 acre of land. Fortunately, the home is paid off so as long as I can pay the property tax, I have a roof over our heads. I’m not a business-minded person so starting my own business is just not feasible. What I can do is what I’ve been doing – working on this little homestead to make it as productive as possible. I want to produce food, medicinals, and extra of each for trading/bartering/quiet sales. Perhaps a bit of my bootlegger grandfathers is rising up in me with the idea that what the government don’t know is okay so long as it don’t hurt no one. Folks gotta eat and they gotta live. I hope the plan is adequate…there are probably lots of holes but the more I learn the more I can fill those holes.

    Thanks for all you do – including shaking me up every now and again.

    • You can do it! Look at the calories per acre in the low side in mark Sheppard’s system. You have enough room. It’s often best to just work what you have.

      • There are aspects to Shephard’s System he can’t shrink down to that scale. That size land cannot support cattle [even one cow and her calf might overload it in manure on a rotational grazing system] and it’s simply too small to include full overstory species.

        It’s also highly probable that his neighborhood prohibits pigs, though he might be able to get away with one or two weaners of a smaller breed [American Guinea Hog or Asian Heritage Hog most likely. Kunekune do well too but they’re still priced out of the meat market.] They will thrash the ground unless moved daily, and even then they’ll leave a trail of disturbance in their wake. The best way to raise pigs on this acreage is probably in a high carbon permanent pit system.

        Of course that requires a lot of inputs [perhaps not quite so much depending on the size of your family and the amount of food waste you produce], but it does result in some really high quality soil as well.

        That aside, your primary meat yield is probably going to be rabbits. One thing I’ve been contemplating since Jack explained his Quail Aviary would be an Aviary Rabbitry, with a single plane of rabbit cages lining the walls and plenty of open space for the quail to run around and do their quail thing without being showered by rabbit waste. I have to imagine the rabbit manure is going to attract a lot of invertebrate life. [This concept remains untested and is theory only.]

        If Chickens are allowed in your area, a small flock of hens can do wonders for a garden and provide an egg yield. On land that size with a flock that size I wouldn’t bother with a rooster, find a local provider who can sell you replacement chicks.

      • You are correct, Lukkas, I have neighbors. The only county restrictions I have are “nothing as big as a cow” (honest to peat that is what they told me). But, in order to keep good relations with the neighbors, I have ruled out pigs. Goats are out until such time as I can put up a good perimeter fence. My livestock currently is rabbits, ducks, and chickens. I plan to get a portable electronet to rotationally graze the ducks and chickens and the Cotton Patch Geese I will be adding this year. The rabbits are not grazed – I cut and carry to them. I have considered putting quail into the rabbitry – would I need to add something to the chain link fence that is currently the walls of my rabbitry? No rooster here, but I have had the neighbor’s rooster try to take up with my ladies – which was fine until he got aggressive with me. I could handle it but I have an elderly mother here who could not.

        • If you WANTED pigs and felt you could comfortably feed them, that High Carbon Pit method I linked does work quite well without consuming a great deal of space.

          That being said rabbits really are the gold standard for meat in small space. Not sure the wisdom of involving two large poultry [ducks and chickens] on the land you’ve got but if it’s working for you that’s awesome.

          What size gardens are you planning on putting in, and do you have any plans for a food forest or micro orchard?

        • I don’t know whether I’d want pigs or not though I’d love the products. As for the ducks & chickens – if it were my preference, the chickens would be gone. But, I have some resistance from my elderly mother. I will work on them going away one at a time until they slowly go away. The Cotton Patch Geese will be a good addition as they will help with grass and weed control as well as eggs and meat production (and sales of breeding pairs).

          As for the garden plans: I currently have 4 large pecan trees and a few oaks. I also have 3 plum trees, 6 mulberries and about 100 willow bushes that I planted for fodder. There are also blackberry bushes. Oh, and Elderberry trees (and plans to propagate those to the max). The current annual vegetable garden is about 20’x20’. The plan is to start planting around the perimeter of the property and work my way in. Mother wants lawn. I want productive plantings. Mother wants flowers. I want medicinal herbs. So, I have to do what I want while giving her what she wants…and slowly work it over to more what I want in a way she will be cool with.

        • Well, one idea that might help you get rid of the lawn is to move the chickens onto it 😛 Either she keeps her chickens or she keeps her lawn.

        • LOL! Yes, indeed! She doesn’t fully grasp the issues with chickens vs. ducks/geese. Plus, most of the hens are, at this point, nothing but freeloaders (no eggs—past their prime). They are helpful with compost production so it isn’t a complete waste…but I’d still like to reduce the flock. I’m wanting/intending to make room for a gaggle of Cotton Patch Geese which will be a fun, productive, and monetary benefit to the homestead. I have already contacted a breeder in VA to acquire a pair this Spring.

          Oh, and I forgot to mention: I do plan to add more fruit trees – peaches and figs for sure…blueberries are a given around here…perhaps a pear and a few apples. I can get away with just one pear because a neighbor has a pear tree. I’m not a fan of the type of pears that all my neighbors seem to be growing – they are hard even when ripe. Even the neighbors won’t eat them so we do glean from them for pear butter. But, I’d like one of those that taste like butterscotch…. I figure a strategic slow attack on the lawn and eventually, it will all be mine! Mine, I tell you! I want more food/medicinals and less lawn to mow…

  14. Jack,

    We started to homeschool and it was the best decision we ever made. Our children are brought up without being afraid of their peers. It is amazing when they get together with other children. They are the ones that are unafraid to advocate for their beliefs and ideas.

    One unexpected outcome of this process is that my kids, unlike many conditioned in public schools, don’t recognize “peer pressure” as a threat. It simply is not on their radar.

    Being a child of public schools myself, I learned that most are, by graduation, just so beaten down by not only their superiors, but by their peers ,that they no longer feel it is appropriate to think for themselves and to fight for their beliefs. In fact, they are so conditioned by the system, that they actually fight against those who go against the establishment.

    My experience with homeschooling has been quite positive. For those who need it, there are homeschool cooperatives everywhere. These often meet in church or community buildings. They exist to take the burden off parents and allow them to share teaching resources / hours.

    The biggest advice I would give to someone considering homeschooling is to not force it to look like public schools. Your school does not need “tests”, “raising hands before speaking” or even a specific set schedule. Most of these are for crowd control and metrics for administrators.

    For our kids, we have some standard curriculum, then I also read to them various history lessons (that is my part of the teaching, since my wife is the primary teacher). We use a free website called “All in one homeschool” for some of our curriculum. It is essentially a compilation of internet links to freely available lessons. For some subjects, we buy workbooks.

    We do not necessarily have weekly quizzes or tests, our schooling is much more conversational. If you were on the job, your employer would not hand you a paper and tell you to fill out a quiz. Instead, they would put you in the fire and say “get to work.” We do the same for our kids. We sneakily give them practical challenges that help us evaluate their progress. This may be a conversation, or it may be a task.

    The important thing is that homeschool does not need to look like a public institution. Your goal is developing a smart and respectful human being. Remember that! It is not your goal to mimic public schools. People fear that they cannot recreate the public school setting and they forget that our goal is not to recreate the setting, it is to build the child into an adult.

    Also, you would not believe how free our schedule has been while homeschooling. We can take a vacation any time. We often school throughout the summer on and off as well. When we take a trip, we use that as a learning experience and can even teach while driving. If you want to be a parent and be free, try homeschooling. Think how often your life, your schedule, and even your relationships are controlled by the school schedule.

    That is just my two cents on homeschooling. It does not have to be scary. In fact, it can be pretty fun and very rewarding. Thanks for your podcast!

    • Good points and one no one thinks about.

      The kids that excel at government school. The ones with at least decent grades and at the top of the social structure. The ones that exerted peer pressure successfully instead of felt it. Let me ask you, what do they learn, who are they by the time they graduate?

      How have they be programmed to behave in society?

    • I guess I would say that I ‘succeeded’ at government schools. I have a great job as an engineer and do really well for myself. My grades were very good all the way through school and the university.

      However, I went down a long path of thinking ‘government can fix this’ or at least ‘central planning can fix this.’ It took a lot of awakened people similar to yourself (unfortunately I did not discover your podcast until I was already awakened) to convince me that government was not the solution.

      Leaving college, I was the good Republican who believed that if we just tweak the laws, if we just win for the party, we can really change things. I wasted years of my life pursuing a “fix” for society through government. I got involved in Republican leadership, I even ran for office (and lost 🙂 ), I put up money and time and I sacrificed my family for it.

      I was the guy blindly advocating for the Republican establishment policies. I could not see the ‘bad’ things people like George W. Bush were doing because I had allowed myself to be conditioned to this group-think idea that we just need to win. As long as that guy with the (R) after his name wins the election, we did good.

      So very many people live for their team and think life revolves around the team. This could be a political team, a sports team, or some other social group. This type of thinking is pervasive in the school system. I love a good football game, but I have friends who would give up their housing payment to watch somebody else play the game at a stadium. Are you kidding me? This idea that we need to live vicariously through sports teams and subsidize their existence is an extension of the group-think and “school spirit” of the institutional school system.

      A few years ago, I realized the foolishness of my strategy. Most of the politicians we worked so hard for never voted the way they promised. Government grew under any of the two party choices.

      Nobody is going to change the world if you cannot change the individual. Laws do not change society, they simply reflect what majority of individuals want from society. To even potentially change the laws, you must change the attitudes of the individuals.

      When I came to that realization, I knew that the greatest thing I could do for my family was to prepare them to think rationally, be self sufficient, and be generally nice people who help others.

      I honestly do not think we will change the government. I do not think the majority of people wake up. We have supply chain issues in our country that could collapse with many different disaster scenarios, yet many are afraid to mention because they might seem “weird” by their peers. I remember a fire alarm going off at a corporation I worked at. Nobody got up. They were all waiting to see what others would do. Everybody was afraid that people would see them react to a potential danger. We have this silly attitude of “carry on” whenever potential disasters loom. Somehow, our society has been conditioned (I believe largely through the herd mentality of institutional education) to believe somebody else will direct them as to what they should do if a problem happens.

      Yes, there are people who are awake to the problems. Many of them were even part of the school system (considering it was illegal to homeschool in most places until the 1980s). I’ve heard it argued that us liberty minded individuals should put our kids in public schools to help bring a positive influence to the schools. This is as dumb as putting your kids in a shark tank to help them save the others who fell in. The public school is the government’s tool. They control the cards and they run the system. On average, the house always wins. Everyone knows that. Putting your kids in a government system for more hours a day than you spend with them is an almost guarantee that they will come out looking more like government clones and less like liberty loving individuals.

      We can put our kids, and society, light years ahead of where many of us were by showing them what true freedom looks like.

  15. Every episode in the history segment we learn that the more things change the more they stay the same.

    A few episodes back we leaned that common sense is applied experience.

    From the ending song from this show
    “You who are on the road
    Must have a code that you can live by
    And so become yourself”

    History proves we did not just get to where we are over night and we won’t change if over night. History also shows that people have changed the direction in certain ways the founding of this country is one example.

    Applied experience told the founders that what was happening around them was not the direction they wanted to go. They found themselves on a road and began writing and talking about the code they wanted to live by for years before the revolution. The founders did not have all the answers they just kept applying the experiences they where having to arrive in a different place.

    We find ourselves on a road going in a direction experience is teaching or has taught us we don’t want to go. We need to be able to express the code we want in our own words. Quoting founding fathers our other great thinkers has a place but until we can express the ideas of why we and our neighbors should be free in our own words we have not applied our experiences to the process and we remain unsure of what really needs to change so that we can be ourselves.

    Jack thanks for continuing to apply common sense to the road we are on and providing a place for discussion on the what the code should be and how it could work. Thank you also continuing to encourage so many to not give up and to find a way to be themselves.

  16. I think someone or some group needs to educate the public on the reality of socialism versus the theory. I am not sure if Sanders would try to regulate or tax mega banks and offshore tax havens. If he actually did do that, I think that would be good, but I have my doubts if he would or could do that. Webster Tarpley pointed out that Sanders has no specific plan and has not criticized the Federal Reserve .. But I have come to agree that it is most always the upper middle class who will get taxed when the left talks about taxing the rich ..

    Sanders does not have a good record for supporting wars and military actions and he is not criticized Hillary enough, so in some ways he seems aligned with the democratic party. He would not run as a third party candidate if Hillary won

    What needs to be done ? People need to realize that modern medicine is largely based on shams and studies that are rigged making 90% of the expensive treatments unnecessary, especially for people who take care of themselves. if all these people are going to run to the doctor for overpriced and unnecessary medications and treatments or not take care of their health and doctors are going to earn giant salaries, then there is no way that health care can be affordable in such a way that every person and many poor people in the country can be given any kind of decent health care ..

  17. This year we put our kids into public school, homeschool was not working out anymore for a variety of reasons. I have seen the good & the bad that came with that decision.
    What I really want to say to parents, regardless of how you choose to school them, educate them!
    Talk to them, watch a documentary together, listen to a podcast while making dinner, etc
    Show them different sides to the same problem, solution, & situation.
    My sons friends are actually eager for what I have to say, really…teenagers @ that. It’s like their parents have checked out, don’t get me wrong their @ every sport event & watching their grades like a hawk, but missing is the fundamental ability to have a conversation. School can teach them science, math, etc but it’s up to you to teach them life skills.

  18. I did see Sanders has talked about reinstating the glass steigel act to regulate banks. That is a good idea, but I disagree with him on other points and I am never sure how much you can trust a politician from what he says to what he actually does

  19. In reference to the end of the show about homeschooling. Once I found out I was pregnant my husband and I had a huge conversation. #1 get a mid wife do home birth #2 homeschool. We got rid of our home in the city and moved to the woods to a very small home. I don’t work full time. I taught myself to sew and sew baby bibs and do mending work from home aprons for a gift shop, just so we can afford to have me stay home with our son. Thanks to FB I found a homeschool group in the area. I’m going to be homeschooling my son he is 3, I already have. There are such great programs through the library and internet. some of the moms are talking about what our strengths are and teaching work shops to the kids. there is also a local homeschool “school” you homeschool 4 days a week and once a week kids go to the school and do projects and group activities. I have been meeting so many parents homeschooling and these are regular people fed up with the system not just super religious types. One of the homeschool moms even set up a liberty group that the parents meet at a restaurant and talk about liberty topics. Everyone thinks my husband and I are crazy but I’m ok with that.

  20. Holy Mother Of God! 1/2 of your DIL paycheck is only for health Ins.

    Wow!

    Wow!

    Enter stage left – a single payer HC system on deck.

    Jack’s right.

    • And yet some people act like I am saying we should do it, I am saying we will do it, that the trap was laid in 2010 and we are now screwed. The GOP will NOT repeal a thing we know that for a fact. The damage is done, the costs will continue to grow, and the nation will say okay I quit.

      I mean saying what I have said is like saying they will raise social security taxes and being accuses of wanting that, I want SSI done away with, a phase out for older people and gone because it is a Ponzi scheme but it ain’t going to happen. The difference is people still think you can repeal Obamacare and go back to 1995, it isn’t going to happen and that leads only one place a place that was the plan all along.

  21. If I take one thing from each of the good people who have taking the time to add to this discussion. It is this, have a goal and a purpose in life to do the right thing in helping others to become more independent and self reliance. I must not give thought to nonsurvival activities of people and governments. There is always something that can be done about nonsurvival activities. Here are the things goverments have violated : 1. We Are All Born Free & Equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

    2. Don’t Discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

    3. The Right to Life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

    4. No Slavery. Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.

    5. No Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.

    6. You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go. I am a person just like you!

    7. We’re All Equal Before the Law. The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.

    8. Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.

    9. No Unfair Detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.

    10. The Right to Trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.

    11. We’re Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

    12. The Right to Privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.

    13. Freedom to Move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.

    14. The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.

    15. Right to a Nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.

  22. I believe it was in a previous podcast of yours that I heard you talk about how it used to be the corporations abusing people, but now it is the unions abusing people. From what I looked up, all of Sanders Campaign Funds are from Unions. Honestly I haven’t researched all that can be researched at this point, I’m always working to learn more, but in general the discussion on the shift of power made sense; as you say, The more things change, the more they stay the same. It was after that podcast, but before this one, that I wrote a brief opinionated post to do with Bernie as follows, “Compulsory Unionism is Power (more threatening than the feared Corporatism Power, which Socialist Democrats campaign on to phase out), and its against Individual Rights per our U.S. Constitution. Bernie Sanders is funded by Education Unions. Nationalized Education has been being organized strongly for some time now, example: Common Core & Worker Certification, but also disguised by other Titles due to resistances.” http://www.nilrr.org/compulsory-unionism-education/ I only wanted to share this piece of info because it does concern me, however, I do not believe there is any better candidate than another, unless Rand Paul could win because he leans on Libertarian-ism; this is first Presidential Election in my adult life I think I won’t vote. I no longer think my vote will make a difference in anything that is going to go on and happen in the White House.

    • It is pretty funny how unions- which were intended to protect the worker- are driving policy against the worker’s best interest.

      Guess sheep- once domesticated- always need to be herded by somebody.

  23. The song intro lead me to expect Find the Cost of Freedom (short but sweet), but Teach is still an awesome choice…

    However I also nominate:
    Cathedral
    The Last Resort

    Don’t even get me started on my (honestly, personally) most impactful Buffet songs.

    But seriously, have you ever listened to Todd Snider? Lots of good stories that would relate to shows.

  24. Jack,

    You have said that Bernie Sanders has a strong chance to win. I see however that there are claims that he is a serious marxist and those claims seem to be not unfounded.

    This article brings up many questions on that:
    http://nypost.com/2016/01/16/dont-be-fooled-by-bernie-sanders-hes-a-diehard-communist/

    This article tries to make a counter argument:
    https://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2016/01/18/no-new-york-post-bernie-sanders-is-not-a-communist/

    However, many things in the first article seem to be true and I would say that the second article may be a whitewash job. Sanders was a big fan of Eugene Debs. Debs said this with regards to the Russian revolution:

    ‘Those Russian comrades of ours have made greater sacrifices, have suffered more, and have shed more heroic blood than any like number of men and women anywhere on Earth,” Debs proclaimed. “They have laid the foundation of the first real democracy that ever drew the breath of life in this world.’

    Sanders went to Russia for his honeymoon, visited Nicaragua and praised the marxists leaders there as well as Fidel Castro .. I think he had a communist flag in his office at one time ..

    Anyone who runs against Sanders would surely bring those points up in their campaign ads against Sanders. Given that, are you really sure he has such a strong chance to win ?

    I would be in favor of banking regulations on mega banks, but I don’t think I want to see a marxist government or a marxist president

    • Slinging mud real or imagined doesn’t matter man. Look at every leading candidate they don’t need mud slung on them, they have willing rolled in shit for the last 20 years and no one cares.

      Cruz has a wife who is a VP for Goldman Sachs and was a member of the CFR. No one cares.

      Trump tossed old people out of rent controlled housing to build casinos that went bust via imminent domain. No one cares.

      Clinton watched brave men die, did nothing, they made a movie about it. Weapons then flowed to ISIS. No one really cares.

      So do you think anyone cares that Sanders is a socialist?

      I know some people care but they care about one to the exclusion of the other. So it is a wash. We keep saying that politicians are bought but the biggest sell outs are the voters.

      “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage.” ~ Alexander Tyler

      He was talking about the Athenian Republic but there are constants in government, this is one. Who ever promises the most shit wins! Right now that is Sanders.

        • Given they exist and state their goals and recruit via a website no it is not.

          The irony I am not sure you are aware of is Cruz was asked his opinion of the CFR and called them a “den of vipers” then it turns out Hedi Cruz was a member. He has also railed on Sachs, then we learn Hedi is a VP of a Sachs division in Houston Texas.

          Cruz is marketed as an anti establishment tea party candidate. Let that all sink in.

  25. Jack, I think it was this ep that you talked about the common thread in Trump supporters being a tendency toward authoritarianism, right? I found the article, or at least one that addresses it, if anyone is interested.

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-2016-authoritarian-213533

    It seems to me that any of us in this audience who care about “freedom” and “liberty” but support Trump should have to read this article and think it over for a while whether we really care about those things or not…

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